Summit of the America’s to be held this weekend

Heads of government from the Western Hemisphere, including those from the United States and Canada are converging in Colombia for this weekend’s Summit of the Americas. The Belize delegation is led by the Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega and includes Foreign Minister, Wilfred Elrington. Elrington met this morning with the Secretary General of the OAS, Jose Miguel Insulza. The OAS says they discussed the political climate and the main issues to be debated during the summit. The meeting took place in the Julio Cesar Turbay Ayala Convention Center, where the sixth summit will be held. One of the topics that is attracting discussion is the decriminalization of drug transportation which is threatening security in the region and has caused up to fifty thousand deaths in Mexico alone. Earlier this week, in his column Reflections, the Cuban leader Fidel Castro, wrote that President Obama will be donning a specially designed guayabera. The origin of the guayabera was traced to Cuba and Castro noted that Cuba has been excluded from the Summit. The theme of the two day summit is “Connecting the Americas, partners for prosperity”.

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